HSBC UK City Ride kicks off in Birmingham

After months of meticulous planning and promotion, the inaugural HSBC UK City Ride rolled into Birmingham this weekend. Thousands of people joined us in Victoria Square where the traffic-free ride got underway.

Local cyclists of all ages lined up next to their Olympic heroes Sir Chris Hoy and Joanna Rowsell Shand MBE as the crowd counted down from 10. The Great Britain Cycling Team’s future stars, Joe Truman, Jack Carlin and Ryan Owens were also on hand to ride along the 5km route.

The atmosphere was electric as families explored their city on traffic-free streets. From 11am to 3pm the route was ringing with honking horns and ringing bells as people returned to do lap after lap. Over at Centenary Square, young City-Riders tested their skills in the Go-Ride zone, cheered on by Sir Chris and Joanna. While back at Victoria Square the Street Velodrome was in high demand, as friends and family queued up to race each other on the mini track experience.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with some of our Birmingham-based Breeze Champions and Ride Leaders who were helping out at the Cycle Inn, along with all the other amazing volunteers who made sure the day was one to remember. It was also hard to miss the display of orange Big Birmingham Bikes on show in support of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution.

For me, the best part was seeing the reaction to the day on social media. Lots of people took to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to post about their day and share their selfies with Joanna, Chris and the boys.

Here’s a quick round-up of some of my favourite comments from the day:

Thanks to our partnership with HSBC UK and Birmingham City Council, the event was a huge success and we can’t wait to visit the 13 other HSBC UK City Ride locations this year! Click here to find your nearest event.